Law & Apple: It's Samsung Trial Season Again

In August of 2012, a jury awarded Apple over $1 billion in a lawsuit against Samsung. That decision was just the beginning. Now, both companies are squaring off in the courtroom again for the first of three major showdowns that will take place over the next few months. These trials could bring the end of the Patent Wars, or they could spawn and endless sea of appeals and retrials. One question that should be answered rather soon: How much of that $1 billion will Samsung have to pay Apple, anyway?

Apple vs. Samsung

Yesterday, Apple and Samsung met in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Judge Lucy Koh presiding. It is the same court, same judge, same case, that was argued almost 15 months ago. You might remember that one — the jury awarded Apple more than $1 billion, agreeing with Cupertino's claims that its products were being "slavishly copied" by Samsung.

And then something happened to that $1 billion, where it became closer to $600 million... or did it? Last March, Judge Koh vacated about $450 million of the original award. Many reported this development as a reduction to the amount Samsung would have to pay; actually, the ruling set the stage for an additional hearing to determine how much of that $450 million Samsung owed. Possibly less, but also possibly more.

And despite Samsung's best efforts to delay that trial from happening, it is now under way.

What if we strenuously object, will that help?

According to CNN Money, many experts believe that Samsung will end up paying some of the $450 million on the table, but not more. Samsung, however, seems fairly worried, as they have made several pretrial motions that would seem to complicate the issue and potentially confuse the jury, almost all of which have be denied.

As Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents puts it, "Samsung has been unsuccessful so far with its attempts to muddy the water for the new jury."

This trial is just the kickoff to what looks to be a wild couple of months in the courtroom between Apple and Samsung. In December, Samsung will be on the hot seat for what is being referred to as "Patentgate", or the alleged disclosure of highly confidential business information regarding Apple's license agreements by Samsung and its legal firm, Quinn Emanuel. The judge in this case, Judge Paul Grewal, originally did not feel that a serious violation existed. However, after reviewing the documents last month, Judge Grewal has now concluded that "sanctions against Samsung and its attorneys are warranted."

Ultimately, this retrial over damages, and (to some extent) the upcoming Patentgate trial, are focused on older Samsung products, and are skirmishes before the big battle. Just around the corner is the case that could be big enough to force a settlement, and an end to the Patent Wars.

In March 2014, Apple and Samsung will meet in court to argue over a different batch of Apple patents, and will focus on newer products, including Samsung’s popular Galaxy S III smartphone. Judge Koh will preside over that case as well and, if Samsung were to be found guilty again, the $1 billion award being argued this week could just end up being a down payment.